Reviews by Topic
Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.
Sound Quality
Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX
My wife disagrees, but I think movies sound punchier and more intimate on grado cans. And they have the side benefit of letting two people listen to something and just talk like nothing since they leak like mad. But again, all round? These babies, hands down.
SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition
Sound quality is good, but it turns to potato quality as soon as I transition to two-way audio like a phone or discord call. The audio is made louder than it should be, and if I go lower than about the bottom 10% of my device's volume then it turns off entirely on the headphones. My new headphones also have near useless isolation, which is a bit of an issue.
Comfort
Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX
All-day comfortable with ease (they can get a tiny bit warm with the alcantara pads in a hot room, but not even close to unacceptable) and utterly zero squeaks or creaks (looking at you, Audio Technica AD700's) The one, ONLY gripe I have with them is the nice cable they have is too short for anything other than a desktop amp or device RIGHT in front of you. BUT, it's replaceable, and lots of companies make cables for them. Side benefit is you can get a balanced cable for them, and if you get a BTR5 as well, that amp has a balanced output option. So they can sound EVEN BETTER
SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition
I have gone through a bunch of different headsets in my life but this is truly my favorite. Comfort: I did a marathon game day of about 15 hours with minimal breaks in between and these never got uncomfortable. Sound: Stereo sound is great, multi channel (DTS/Atmos) is amazing. Noise: I really can't even hear people knock on my door when I have these on and I'm not too far from that door
Fit
Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX
It's not long enough for comfortable PC/ living room AV receiver use for me, so I ordered a replacement cable when I bought the headphone. The replacement cable is that red one that everybody else is buying. I clipped the "braided" part off, and now they're really cool looking red cables. They click really nicely into the headphones - better click than the stock cable
SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition
I'm a small person, with an average size head and average but slightly pokey-outey ears. The fabric and the stretch fabric on the headset is very comfortable and breathable. It angles just a touch forward when I wear it, which is not noticeable after a few minutes. The retractable microphone works very well, and my raid leader says I'm very crisp - definitely not the case with my knockoff cheapo headset
Warranty
Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX
Customer service is not amazing. Warranty is nothing special. Oh, and the stock cable is a cable. It's not great
SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition
My hyperCloudX II got its mic to stop working out of no where, and it's not even making a full year of warranty. This is my third pair since they were released back then.
Durability
SteelSeries Arctis 5 2019 Edition
Product Great headphones Comfortable Good mic Good sound Good software Bottom line is great product if it doesn’t break, but if it breaks and you didn’t buy it from steel series directly then there is no chance in getting a new headset. DONT BUY UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY TO GET A NEW ONE WHEN THE FIRST BREAKS AFTER A YEAR. Update: after a few months was finally able to get credit from steel series to order a new set. Turns out buying from Amazon is not actually an issue but steel series customer service is